Cote d’Ivoire: Ouattara Extends Ban on Cocoa Export

By Eric Sande

ABIDJAN---Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election, has vowed to extend the one-month ban to March 15 on cocoa exports if rival Laurent Gbagbo continues to sit on power by today when the restriction expires, says Malick Tohe, an adviser to his administration.

This move is likely to raise the cocoa prices in the country. Cote d'Ivoire is the world’s biggest cocoa producer and accounts for 40 per cent of global supplies, valued at $4.5bn (£2.8bn) annually at current prices.

The cocoa prices have since escalated 9.9 per cent since Ouattara imposed the ban. The beans reached the highest level since January 1979 in New York trading today.

An extension of the ban could throw the market into disarray, particularly if it threatens Ivory Coast’s cocoa mid-crop, which will start in late March or early April. “If Mr Gbagbo leaves, of course the ban will be removed. But if he stays on, I just think the ban will continue,” Mr Ouattara said in an interview at the Golf Hotel, where he has been protected by peacekeepers since December.

“There is a risk that farmers will not have enough money,” said Kona Haque, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. in London. “The situation is getting dire.”

Cocoa for May delivery rose as high as $3,608 a metric ton on ICE Futures U.S. and was up $64, or 1.8 percent, at $3,563 by 12:13 p.m. New York time. Prices may reach $3,700 in a month, Haque said.

Cocoa is heavily taxed in Ivory Coast and constitutes a large source of income for Mr Gbagbo, who needs about $150m a month to pay civil servants and the military.

Cocoa traders have stopped or slowed down their purchases in Ivory Coast as their warehouses fill up, hurting the income of about 800,000 farmers who depend on the commodity.

Some observers fear that an extension could backfire on Mr Ouattara.

According to the United Nations, more than 300 people have been killed in clashes since the vote.